elections

Two big-name Dems say no to public financing in ABQ mayoral race

By Andy Lyman

Albuquerque mayoral candidates have to file their next campaign finance reports by April 15. For most, it will be their first reports filed this election. While many of the candidates speak highly of public financing, only one has qualified for it.

Following a hotly contested and seemingly fraudulent round of elections, a new president will soon take power in Mexico, representing the party that oppressed the Mexican people for more than 70 years. As the opposition to presumptive President Enrique Peña Nieto grows stronger, an enthusiastic student protest movement takes to the streets. But will they be able to save Mexico?

The Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, held power in Mexico from 1929 to 2000, using strategies of intimidation, corruption and outright voter fraud to maintain its position as the country's leader. After the opposition party PAN took the presidency in 2000, the PRI became known as "the dinosaurs," representing the antiquated, undemocratic system of the past.

When voters hit the polls countrywide, they’ll see at least three options for president. One of them is former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson. As the Libertarian candidate, he’s pitching himself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

“I'm going to be the only candidate that doesn't want to bomb Iran. I'm going to be the only candidate that wants to get out Afghanistan now—and the wars. I'm going to be the only candidate that wants to end the drug war. I'm going to be the only candidate that wants to bring about marriage equality, believing that it’s a constitutionally guaranteed right.”

Ex-guv is ready to throw down with the donkeys and elephants

By Marisa Demarco

Gary Johnson changed his party affiliation and became the Libertarian presidential candidate in May. He needs to poll at 15 percent to get into the televised debates between ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and President Obama. The Libertarian candidate for president spoke with the Alibi about how his new party is working out, his opinion of Gov. Susana Martinez and what minimal government really means.

Holding back the tide of big money in New Mexico politics

By Steven Robert Allen

Five justices on the U.S. Supreme Court seem hell-bent on dismantling campaign finance laws designed to prevent the wholesale buy-off of the American democratic process. The judges’ efforts are based on an eccentric interpretation of the First Amendment that could only be concocted by a bunch of insulated eggheads who are completely out of touch with political reality.

Free the Data—Crack open the databases, New Mexico. Taxpayers want a look. Under Rep. Joseph Cervantes' (D-Las Cruces) bill, the state would allow people to peruse electronic collections of data "maintained by or on behalf of a public body."

When closing the gender divide, an elected woman’s work is never done

By Marjorie Childress

The number of female legislators in New Mexico is at a record high—30 percent going into the 2010 elections. That's higher than the national average of 24 percent, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. More women are taking on professions that tend to produce elected officials. But there's still a gender gap.